ShoeSkirt

ABSTRACT

A functional bed skirt that consists of clear plastic covered pockets, used to store shoes. This ShoeSkirt is placed underneath an existing bed skirt. The skirt portion is a gathered material (such as polypropylene) which has thin gauge plastic attached to form pockets, which allow their contents to be visible. The pleating falls under the bed frame, which allows most of storage to take place under the bed. This design disguises the bulk of the shoes, and gives a clean line under a decorative bed skirt, providing “hidden” shoe storage under your bed frame.

BACKGROUND

In terms of storage, the space below a typical bed is one of the most under-utilized areas in the average home. There have been mechanical assemblies designed to utilize that space, but no one has provided a convenient bedding accessory to do so. Many designs for bedding are intended to occupy areas adjacent to the bed for storage, some near the floor, and others at mattress level.

A number of pocketed bed shams have been proposed. U.S. Pat. No. D481,899 provides an odd-looking tarp, which suggests that pockets would be useful on the exterior. But this design does not have the slack required to allow storage to rest under the bed. U.S. Pat. No. D471,049 depicts a dust ruffle with storage. Due to the excess of material, this storage will obstruct the floor area surrounding the bed, when it is occupied. Neither of these two designs, unfortunately, will function with a footboard, and neither will tend to utilize the space underneath the bed itself.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,009, No. 5,581,829, No. 6,594,836, and No. 6,601,250 all indicate pockets on the sides of a mattress, which take up otherwise useful space, while causing stored articles to actually become a hindrance to normal activities, such as sitting on the edge of the mattress.

Again, all of these items fail to effectively utilize the actual volume directly below the box-spring. More specifically, no bedding apparel prescribes a use to optimize its own material, and maximize storage capacity.

SUMMARY

The ShoeSkirt is a storage solution to those with limited closet space (or just too many shoes) because it takes the storage out of the closet and brings it into the bedroom—using the dead space already existing under your bed frame. This area has historically been under-utilized. The ShoeSkirt is mainly a woman's product for women's shoes. Men can appreciate it if they are married to women with too many shoes, though. The ShoeSkirt, however, can store things other than shoes.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a pocketed bedskirt that utilizes a portion of the space directly under a bed, by having pockets that are pleated on the portion that is interior to the bedskirt.

It is another object of this invention to provide a pocketed bedskirt that is slotted, so that it functions on any bed, and not just beds without a footboard.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a pocketed bedskirt that allows the contents in storage to be visible through the pocket material.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a pocketed bedskirt that maximizes the use of the bedskirt as an under-bed storage device, by utilizing the entire length of the exposed perimeter of the bed.

It is one more object of this invention to provide a pocketed bedskirt that has a clean uniform appearance upon its exterior. The invention provided disguises the bulk of the shoes, and gives a clean look under the decorative bed sham (or dust ruffle), providing hidden shoe storage under your bed frame.

DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a ShoeSkirt.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the ShoeSkirt (mounted on an ordinary collapsible craft table).

ITEM NUMBERS

-   -   10 SHOESKIRT     -   15 UPPER PORTION     -   20 SIDE     -   25 SLOT     -   30 POCKET     -   40 OUTER PANEL     -   50 INNER PANEL     -   55 PLEAT     -   60 STITCHING     -   80 TABLE

DESCRIPTION

The device is a ShoeSkirt (shown in FIG. 1). It is made of a combination of sheet materials and stitching.

In its preferred embodiment, the ShoeSkirt 10 is designed to store shoes, one pair of shoes in each pouch (approximately thirty pairs of shoes on a twin-sized bed). It can also hold a variety of other items in each pocket 30.

The pockets themselves are designed so that the bulk of their contents is disposed underneath a bed, within a perimeter defined by the four sides of the box-spring. The construction of the ShoeSkirt facilitates this condition.

The upper portion 15 is attached to at least one draping side 2Q. The upper portion and the side(s) are made of an appropriate linen, a gathered material (such as polypropylene). Between two adjacent sides, a slot 25 is provided. This slot allows the ShoeSkirt to be used with beds of slight variation from nominal size, as well as with bed frames that include a footboard. Though, ShoeSkirts having different overall dimensions will be made to fit different standard bed sizes (i.e. King, Queen, Full, etc.).

The side comprises at least one inner panel 50 and one outer panel 40, in the form of a pouch. The inner and outer panels can be primarily transparent and made of a clear vinyl, or they can be made of a suitable fabric, or a combination of either. The inner panel has at least one pleat 55 to allow the pocket to expand toward the interior of the ShoeSkirt, and underneath the bed. The inner and outer panels are secured together with thread stitching 60, along their sides and bottom. The top edges of the panels remain unfastened to allow articles to be inserted and removed easily. The inner panel is stitched to the upper portion, to form the side 20 of the ShoeSkirt.

An alternate embodiment is also shown (FIG. 2). Here, the ShoeSkirt 10 is used as a table cover for hobbies and games, with at least one pocketed side 20 that hangs downward, below the surface of the table 80. An example of a pleat 55 is shown, as well as an area of stitching 60.

Another embodiment is a TravelSkirt (not shown). This is a section of a ShoeSkirt that slips under the end of the bed to provide approximately 12 pockets of storage (for queen-size). 

1. A ShoeSkirt comprising i) a fabric upper portion to be positioned upon the top of a [mattress] box-spring, ii) at least one side that hangs downwardly from said box-spring toward a floor, iii) at least one storage pocket integrated along each of said sides, in the form of a pouch having a) a pair of surfaces defining an outer panel and an inner panel, b) a means for connecting said outer and inner panels together along their laterally vertical edges and along their lower horizontal edge, said outer and inner panels being unconnected along their respective top horizontal edge so that articles may be received and stored within the pocket between said outer and inner panels, c) and a means for attaching said inner panels of said pockets to said sides while permitting entry into said pouches, in such a way that said pockets may hang toward said floor without being impeded by any hardware on a bed frame, wherein said pouch outer and inner panels may be transparent or translucent to allow storage to remain visible, and wherein said pouch inner panels are pleated to allow storage to protrude into a space below said box-spring and to allow a uniform exterior appearance.
 2. A ShoeSkirt comprising i) a fabric upper portion to be positioned upon the top of a platform, ii) at least a pair of sides that hang downwardly from said platform toward a floor, iii) at least one storage pocket integrated along each of said sides, in the form of a pouch having a) a pair of surfaces defining an outer panel and an inner panel, b) a means for connecting said outer and inner panels together along their laterally vertical edges and along their lower horizontal edge, said outer and inner panels being unconnected along their respective top horizontal edge so that articles may be received and stored within the pocket between said outer and inner panels, c) and a means for attaching said inner panels of said pockets to said sides while permitting entry into said pouches, in such a way that said pockets may hang toward said floor without being impeded by any platform hardware, wherein said pouch outer and inner panels may be transparent or translucent to allow storage to remain visible, and wherein said pouch inner panels are pleated to allow storage to protrude into a space below said platform and to allow a uniform exterior appearance.
 3. A skirt comprising i) a fabric upper portion to be positioned upon the top of any elevated structure, ii) at least a pair of sides that hang downwardly from said elevated structure, iii) at least one storage pocket integrated along each of said sides, in the form of a pouch having. a) a pair of surfaces defining an outer panel and an inner panel, b) a means for connecting said outer and inner panels together along their laterally vertical edges and along their lower horizontal edge, said outer and inner panels being unconnected along their respective top horizontal edge so that articles may be received and stored within the pocket between said outer and inner panels, c) and a means for attaching said inner panels of said pockets to said sides while permitting entry into said pouches, in such a way that said pockets may hang downward without being impeded by any portion of said elevated structure, wherein said pouch outer and inner panels may be transparent or translucent to allow storage to remain visible, and wherein said pouch inner panels are pleated to allow storage to protrude into a space below said elevated structure and to allow a uniform exterior appearance. 